The Jumbee (review)

Esti Legard is mourning the loss of her famous actor father while at the same time struggling to move out from under his shadow to realize her own talent on stage. After she and her mother move to the West Indies, where her family has a house, she enrolls at a high school noted for its theater program. As she auditions for the role of Juliet, she hears a voice—and it turns out she's the only one who does. Locals begin to believe that she is consorting with a type of malevolent spirit called a jumbee. She, on the other hand, believes that the voice belongs to a real man named Alan, with whom she falls in love as he coaches her to a level of performance she didn't think possible. Meanwhile, Rafe, an old friend and son of a talent scout whose family lives on the island, has returned, and he clearly wants more from Esti than a casual friendship. The bones of the plot stay very close to its source text, The Phantom of the Opera, while maximizing the legends and landscapes of its West Indies setting; particularly compelling is the slowly unfolding backstory of Alan's dark family history of slavery and abuse. Like its source text as well as scads of other contemporary YA romances one could name, the story plays on that thin line between tragically flawed hero and creepy stalker, ensuring its appeal to readers not familiar with Phantom, but it also introduces layers of psychological depth that are lacking in those other romances. Esti's vulnerability to Alan's seduction is clearly motivated by her grief, and he really does help her to come to terms with the enormity of her father's influence. Rafe, on the other hand, is the bad boy girls love to tame—smokin' hot, with a reputation as an unrepentant player, he's nonetheless all ready to settle down if only Esti can make up her mind between Alan's disembodied presence and Rafe's all-too-present physical perfections. Readers who prefer romances that raise the hairs on the back of the neck will enjoy this Phantom remake.